10 Tips for When Life Gets a Little Too Crazy

February 25th, 2011

multitasking motherCheck out the following scenario. You wake up at 5am after 5 hours of interrupted sleep because your precious 2 year old boy has been sick. Drive a harrowing 2 hours to get to work (normally a 50 minute drive) skating on black ice with your hands gripping the steering wheel with so much intensity that they go numb. After arriving safely, you see patients non-stop all day with only time to throw a couple almonds in your mouth for lunch.

When you open your computer at the end of the day you find 170 new emails that need to be addressed. You don’t have time to even read them because you have to rush home to see your little guy, prepare dinner, hang with him and crash. As you’re drifting off to sleep you realize that tomorrow the emails will be even more piled up and many of the gazillion items on your to do list have yet again been left undone. Welcome to the last 2 weeks of my life. Sound familiar?


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Sometimes no matter how disciplined we try to be or want to be it is a challenge to stay consistent with our routines. Life gets in the way and derails our plans. Lately, I have felt somewhat overwhelmed with the sheer volume of things on my To Do list. Many of these things are great things. Opportunities that have arisen because of a contact I have made or a goal I have pursued. Nevertheless we can sometimes end up with too much on our plates.

When this happens sometimes the best approach is to take a deep breath, analyze the situation and decide what is truly important to you. Is everything that you are doing either necessary or important? If not shove it off the plate and make room for what is. Often when I feel this way I realize that I have gotten away from doing the regular routine that keeps me grounded and helps me to form my priorities.

Yesterday I took a step back and decided to do the following things to ground me and re-prioritize my tasks. Try the following tips to deal with your sometimes overwhelming life and see if you can sense a calm come over you…

10 Tips to Help You Refocus and Prioritize

  1. Write a complete list of all the tasks that need to be completed. Getting them out of your head and onto paper in an organized fashion frees up your brain power for creativity and greater productivity
  2. Organize your workspace. Having things in place creates a sense of calm.
  3. Decide what is most important and do those items first. Be brutally honest about what really needs to be done first and why.
  4. Start doing. The journey of a 1000 miles begins with one step
  5. Practice deep breathing. Five breaths in and out slowly will induce calm
  6. Relieve some stress through vigorous exercise. I know how do you find the time? For this one make the time. The payoff is huge.
  7. Journal. Write about how you are feeling. Really get in touch with what is most important to you both personally and professionally. It will help you gain clarity.
  8. Practice handling just one thing at a time. Fully complete that task and then move on to the next
  9. Plan out each day for 15 minutes before it starts. It will give you a guideline and a sense of what really needs to be done.
  10. Write 5 things to be thankful for in your life. It grounds you and helps you to live in the moment.

We all go through periods of imbalance and craziness. Use these simple techniques to get you back on track will help.

What tips do you find most helpful when you’re going through a stressful time?



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